Grandview House in California Adapted to a Long and Narrow Lot

The creative team at RAS-A unveiled Grandview House, a private family home recently completed in Manhattan Beach, California. A long and slender building was the architects’ answer to a narrow lot with plenty of challenges. The planning of the projects allows the interiors to spill outdoor, thus creating living spaces flooded in natural lighting. Sustainable features of the residence include operable windows and ventilating light wells for constant ocean breezes and a hydronic radiant floor system allowing the courtyard to be used throughout the year.

The original house on the site, built in 1927, was hand demolished to the foundations: “Its footprint and silhouette are recycled into the new design as a smooth troweled white stucco box that contains the homes public spaces. It is in sharp contrast to the dark charred cedar that clads the private portions of the house. Bricks from an old patio on the property are re-purposed into an outdoor fireplace and grill. The interiors have concrete flooring, maple stairs, walnut casework, and ceilings of hemlock which match the sauna.” [Photography by Chang Kyun Kim]